Heart to Heartless
by Tru Mel Meiko Mei Ling
Summary: A personalized adaption of how the events of the first Kingdom Hearts, on the island, may have taken place. Heavily written and my first KH fic ever.
1. 1st Essence

_**A/n- An old fic but I decided, why not post it? I think I put my best efforts at the time, into it, so it's really maturely written for a happy bouncy KH fic. It's basically an 'unseen' addition to explain Sora, Kairi and Riku's delve into the other world. Mainly based on the first KH.**_

_**A/N: Okay, this caused a lot of controversy, the last time I had this story up, so I'm making it clear. In the first game, Kairi's eyes were BLUE—as BLUE as SORA'S. In the official art for the game, her eyes were violet. The colors I went by were the IN-GAME eye colors, so therefore her eyes, in this story are BLUE. So don't send me any complaints about the eye colors, allright? Just enjoy the story **_

_**Disclaimer: No I don't own these characters. Square-Enix/Disney do and whomever else associated with creating them, but not me.**_

_**-**_

**_Heart to Heartless: 1st Essence_**

It was late in the afternoon on Destiny Islands and the sun had already begun it's decent in the West. As a calm breeze swept across the landscape, it shuffled past countless hinges and open windows, creating a soft whistling sound.

Keen to the sound, a young boy with platinum hair sat up in his bed. With the soft breeze caressing its wispy fingers through his locks of hair, he turned his head to face it—his nose taking in the salty scent it carried. With his eyes set on the warm sunset on the horizon, his mind relayed thoughts of only one person.

One with delicate features, with hair as soft as the heart warming laugh they carried, and with the prettiest pair of glistening blue eyes the boy had ever seen in his life…although, he was only 13.

He had decided. Today was the day and right now was the time to confess his feelings to this person. At that moment, he leapt out of bed, and gathered together a piece of paper and a piece of fruit. The moment he got to his door, he tripped and ended up dropping everything in his arms. Bending down to pick the parcels up, as his fingertips touched the fruit, he paused. There was a saying that claimed that any two people who share that special fruit with one another, their destinies would be intertwined forever. Though it sounded romantic, being eternally tied to someone else's destiny and life was a big responsibility and in some ways, a burden. What if two who shared the fruit were close when they were very young, but couldn't stand each-other once they got older?

What if, the saying meant not just for those in love but for good friends too--or family for that matter? Was this the right choice to make?

Two years had passed since that day and the boy still pondered that thought—the real meaning behind the legend of the Paopu fruit. Perched in the only tree that bore the fruit, he allowed his eyes to wade out in the waves of the ocean that spanned before him.

Quietly, he fingered a piece of the fruit in his hands that had fallen off the tree before it was ripened. He had been practicing his sword-fighting techniques on the trees near it earlier while he collected his random thoughts, and without knowing, smacked it down before it had a chance to grow properly. Now, with that piece of fruit in his hands, he had set aside his training sword and allowed his gaze to venture outwards towards the outstretched watery horizon before him. Fingering the fruit, as if it were an amplifier for his thoughts as well as his memory, he contemplated over how captivated he was when he spent the very first week with his secret admirer.

This love, or, deep emotion that he felt for this certain someone was something that had been on his mind ever since they had came to that island.

As a calm sea breeze flowed past him and trailed through his hair, the thought of this person he secretly liked having the same feelings for him as well passed through his mind. Then he quickly disposed of the thought.

"Tch, who am I kidding…" he muttered, curling a few fingers around the tender and premature Paopu fruit. "That'll never happen.." With that, he hopped off the tree, fruit in hand, and stood at the very edge of the outlook. He was about to toss the rare fruit in the ocean when the sound of footsteps behind him made him hold his ground.

Not many really cared to step foot on "his" outlook, so out of those few people, who could it be?

Was it Sora?

No, these footsteps were much to soft, and much too cautious to be the spiky-haired teen's. He knew that it wasn't Tidus because the current hour was past his bedtime.

That could only mean one person.

With a soft smile curling the ends of his lips, Riku turned around with an elated expression that showed that he was pleased to see this person more than he knew.

"Kairi…" he called breathlessly, quickly tucking the piece of fruit in his pocket and walking over to her. Needless to say, he was very surprised to see her, but he was even more joyful at the display of her presence. Loosely trying to conceal his elation with a thin mask of suaveness, he tilted his head to the side and nonchalantly crossed his arms across his chest—trying to ignore the wild thumpings of his heart beating against it. "Well, well. What brings you up here?"

With a small smile, that was the total opposite of her usual big and bright beautiful ones, Kairi glanced at Riku with an unreadable expression, then looked away from him and shook her head. "It's nothing." she replied unsurely. She then bit her lip, feeling the guilt rise up inside her for telling a lie. "I just…saw you here all alone, and I wanted to keep you company."

A deep chord was struck within Riku as he became flattered by Kairi's words, but that feeling faded almost as quickly as it arrived. Kairi wasn't herself. He knew something was awry. Deciding that he'd get her to tell him, he stepped closer to her and called her name softly.

On command, her head lifted as her eyes were met with Riku's. As they both beheld one another, time seemed to have stopped.

In the back of her mind, Kairi knew something like this would happen, but she gave little signs of resisting it now. "Yes?", she answered, her eyes wide with curiosity and perplexity. Riku paused while the in spotlight of those azure blue jewels as they stared straight at him; their deep color beading his forehead with sweat, the weight of their vastness gravitating his own eyes and body towards her. It was almost as if they were taunting him---daring him to take his eyes away from hers.

And from the looks of the situation, it appeared to be working.

Nearing closer to her, Riku unhesitantly extended an arm and lightly brushed Kairi's arm with a finger. Not much to his surprise, she jumped at his touch.

Not the reaction he wanted, but it was the one he expected. Why was she acting like this? Why had she even come to see him? She rarely seemed to care about his whereabouts, so what had changed this time around?

His eyes narrowed at the thought. Did she want something specific from him?

Nervously rubbing her arm where Riku touched her, Kairi looked down and away from him for a moment and it was then that Riku got an answer.

"It's Sora…", she said in a wavering voice.

"Sora!" Riku repeated, almost jubilantly at hearing his friend's name. Taking heed of the burst of emotion in his voice, Riku cleared his throat and quickly recomposed himself. "What about Sora?"

Setting aside the blonde boy's folly, Kairi continued to hesitate in her body language as well as her words. Finally mustering the courage to tell Riku of her weighted words, Kairi lifted her eyes slowly to him but wasn't surprised to find his elsewhere. They were adverted away from her and off to the side.

'He's probably looking for Sora…' she thought, biting her lip.

Soon realizing that he was being stared at, Riku seamlessly and coolly returned his gaze to the troubled girl in front of him, hardly aware of the thin and wispy fingers of the wind as it playfully tussled through his and Kairi's locks.

Kairi inwardly shuddered upon meeting with the older teen's mystical emerald studs and witnessing the alluring display of his features. Riku was very attractive, but he let his being older take the fun out of him sometimes, in Kairi's opinion. And from that, many questions and wandering thoughts arose within her being, but she pushed them aside. Sighing heavily, she fingered a lock of her auburn hair and finally spoke her words, finding it hard to look directly at Riku for what she was about to say. "...Earlier today, Sora and I were down at the Cove just talking and joking around…"

Unbeknownst to himself, the words "Sora", "Cove" and "Joking around" triggered Riku's eyes to narrow as random thoughts flew through his mind. Just what were they joking around about…?

Becoming nervous by the was Riku looked at her, Kairi's eyes hesitantly fleeted between Riku's and the horizon beyond him as she continued.

"…We went on about this and that and were just being playful, until…", she paused, preparing to release the buildup of tension inside her, "…Sora instantly got serious and told me that…that he loved me…"

Feeling the murderous pounds of weight those words carried, Riku had temporarily lost track of the ability to breathe, as Kairi's words each took a smashing blow at his heart and dug into his very core. He could barely keep his focus, not to mention lose his balance by the verbal onslaught his body was struck with. He tried to not think about it, but the tension was too much.

Hurt, Riku's mind reeled back to when he and Sora were younger and had always spent time together. He looked up to Sora, and Sora looked up to him. Both had a profound and meaningful admiration for the other that none dared to speak out of embarrassment, but rather showed throughout their competitive nature. Then when Kairi arrived on the island, everything between Riku and Sora was dislocated and strewn about. Both had acknowledged that they were attracted to the new girl, but one was more than the other. One talked almost endlessly of Kairi, while the other sulked and ultimately felt left out and almost replaced.

Riku's eyes narrowed, and unknown to Kairi, a fleeting glint flashed within them, rendering the crystal depths of his eyes a tad _greener _than usual.

He and Sora had been the best of friends for a long time, and to think that they almost let a girl come completely between them. They both refused to admit a girl would ever tear their friendships apart, but with abundant proof, Riku painfully found that theory to be true.

Feeling the aftershocks of Kairi's statement, he was about to tell her to leave him, until she stopped him with a soft hold on his arm.

Riku would have shaken her off if he hadn't the urge to look her in the eyes first. And meeting with such pure sincerity, he felt most of his anger stir before gradually starting to dissipate.

"What is it…?", he placidly asked, showing that some remnants of anger still lingered.

Acknowledging his behavior, Kairi chose to pick her words more carefully as she spoke. Looking away, so she wouldn't have to see Riku's exploding emotions again, she explained the rest of her story. "After telling me how he felt all of a sudden…he was waiting for me to say the same thing, but I couldn't, and…I hesitated…"

"Hesitated!" Riku repeated, with an emphasizing edge to his voice. "What do you mean, you hesitated?" Scoffing, he threw in with a low tone, " …I thought you liked Sora…"

Catching her immediately off guard, Kairi's eyes darted to Riku as her mouth dropped open, as her mind scurried to form the right words. "I do! But only as a friend!"

A friend? This got Riku's mind to wander.

If Kairi saw Sora as just a friend, then there was still hope for him after all. With his deep beryl eyes on Kairi, Riku neared even closer to her, but made sure she stayed where she was and didn't recoil at his closeness.

"You only see Sora as a friend, huh? Well, then what did you come to me for?"

"Because I felt you could help me."

Riku scoffed inwardly. "Oh really…? Well then, what did you tell Sora after he expressed his feelings to you?"

Kairi hesitated and looked away. "I…"

"What did you tell him?" Riku pressed, getting closer to Kairi. He was so engulfed in their conversation and practically fed on every one of her words, that he didn't notice his hands grasping her tender shoulders. He was sure that Kairi noticed, and if she had, she wasn't doing anything about it to resist. Riku found that strange, yet admirable, but still, he continued on.

"What did you say to Sora?"

"I told him I was sorry! I told him I only saw him as a friend!" Kairi expressed, throwing her words painfully at Riku. Both being in awe at what they heard—Kairi, for finally saying how she really felt, and Riku for having to handle the pressure of hearing it---Riku was speechless as the emotional Kairi fell to his chest. Feeling the girl shake and tremble against him struck something deep within his being, and his arms automatically encircled around her quivering body.

The instant her lush body made contact with his, Riku found himself enjoying the feel of her in his arms. From the weightlessly thin clothes she was wearing, he could easily feel the smooth tactility of her skin and the tinge of hotness that it absorbed from the setting sun beyond them. She was gentle to the touch as well as stimulating to the senses.

And she was also suffering.

Pushing his masculine insights aside, Riku gingerly stroked her back, but then moved his hand up to the back of her head when he felt even the slightest flinch from her, as to not disrespect her.

With the young girl in his arms like this, it rendered his curious mind to wander.

What if Sora saw them like this? Riku frowned. As much as he cared for Sora, for right now, he would have to put his focus on Kairi and her anguish.

As if she could hear him thinking about her, Kairi slowly lifted her head a little, but did not look at Riku. With small trembles in her voice, she spoke. "…Even though…I do like Sora…I think we're all too young…for love right now…including you."

Even though Riku was a year older than both Kairi and Sora, a part of him still agreed with her words. Just as that thought passed, a drop of something cool and wet fell onto his arm, bringing him instantly away from his deliberation.

Looking down, he was in awe to find Kairi crying--and in his arms at that.

Instantly, his thoughts left him as his body acted on it's own. A hand went to caress Kairi's face as a finger traced along her jaw-line and rested under her chin. As Riku lifted her face upwards to meet his own, the beauty that looked back at him made him pause in his actions.

Even when saddened, Kairi's features were nothing short of gorgeously unspeakable. Her deep lupine eyes luminously glistened as reflections of the setting sun reflected within them—making her tears prove as an amplifier for her unparalleled beauty. Her lips quivered as she looked at the platinum blonde with pure sincerity. Riku's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

She was a strong one. Her passion for her friends burned almost as brightly as her fiery crimson locks, which were amplified in hue by the hot touches of the sun, and increased her features a thousand fold.

Now Riku knew why he had fallen for this girl once, became jealous of her, then accepted her again. Her fairness was truly breathtaking, and all that beheld her couldn't help but notice. Riku could now see how Sora fell so easily for Kairi and so deeply as well. The girl did seem special...even if she did, in a way, slightly separate him and Sora for a while. He was sure she didn't mean it. Over time, he found himself semi-attracted to her. But he wasn't sure if he liked her because Sora did or if his actual feelings were directed towards her. Concerning Sora, and because of his competitive nature, Riku saw getting Kairi's affection as a challenge and wanted to show Sora that aside from hardly able to best him at sword fighting, he couldn't best him in romance either. And if Sora couldn't even get the girl he loved, then he'd probably give up on Kairi, and turn to Riku for support.

Then it would have been Riku and Sora again, like it had been many years before—before Kairi came and tore their feelings asunder.

But, even still, Riku couldn't be mad at her, even if he, at times, did get jealous.

But it wasn't just jealousy he had for Kairi, was it?

Still not saying a word and gazing into her eyes, Riku leaned in closer, with the thought of kissing her crossing his mind, and gently pressed her into his embrace as he held her close while she sobbed on his chest.

'Sora…', he uttered in his mind, '…you better know what you're getting yourself into…'

Glancing down at the girl in his arms, Riku brushed a hand through her strawberry locks. Just out the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone standing down on the beach. Darting his attention to the area, he felt a sensational rush go through his body at the sight of no one other than Sora.

The younger teen had been standing there for a little while, allowing the lucid waves of the sea lap against his ankles. His eyes were fixed on the fiery sun setting beyond him into the water as far as his eyes could see. From Riku's point of view, Sora looked rather devoid.

"Sora…" Riku whispered to himself. Hearing the boy's name, Kairi removed herself from Riku's arms enough to look for herself. Feeling the young girl suddenly move about in his arms, Riku's attention went to her for a second and noticed that something caught her attention... When he returned his eyes back down to the shore, he found himself beheld by Sora. The younger was infuriated beyond what certain words could explain at the sight of Kairi and Riku together. He didn't know what was going on, but he had his eyes aimed dead at Riku's.

Riku grimaced, as he felt the sour tug of betrayal in his heart, coming from within Sora's being.

'Sora…', Riku spoke gently in his mind, as Kairi whispered the same.

With a scowl, Sora gave Riku a painful glare as he fought back the almost irresistible urge to breakdown into tears.

Seeing his best friend in such malaise and hurt, Riku cast everything else behind him as he called out to him.

"Sora!"

Unknown to himself, he had been so indulged with being concerned with Sora's anguish, that he didn't realize that he had left Kairi and ran across the bridge that lead to the Cove.

He was a little sorry that he had left her there, but there was no turning back now.

There was only place he knew of that Sora would be able to disappear to in such a short time.

Continuing his descent, he called over his shoulder to Kairi that he'd be back, as he made his way across the hot sands to the Secret Place.

-

Whew…my first KH fanfic..

It may get a little more maturely written from here

-Mel


	2. 2nd Essence

**Disclaimer: I don't own these chars. They're property of whomever created them and Square-Enix/Disney.**

-

**_Heart to Heartless: 2nd Essence_**

Inside the Secret Place surrounded by murals, Sora dejectedly made his way through the cave, with his head hung in defeat. Devoid, he carelessly allowed his fingers to trail across the multiple carvings on the cave walls as his mind wandered in shallow thought.

There were so many memories in this place. Half of them dealt with Riku, and the other half dealt with…

"Kairi…" his broken voice managed to raspily whisper. The same girl that he had fallen for had, in turn, shattered his heart nearly to pieces. It was such a burden to him now, that he tried not to settle his thoughts around it, but his willpower to resist was considerably weakened. Sora couldn't help but not think about her, and by thinking of her, his thoughts would roughly force him to relocate his mind on what she told him. Feeling the same stab that her words gave him while at the Cove, Sora clutched his heart and leaned against the wall of the cave on his arm in a way that it covered his face as he wept.

Clear drops of a pure and candid liquid fell to the ground in an uneven rhythm, as his heart, in contrast, wrenched in throbbing pain from being stained with the tepid acid of Kairi's words.

"Kai…ri…" he choked out just under a whisper.

Letting the once blissful sounding name of his heart's desire tumble loosely from betwixt his forlorn lips sent a cool rush of shivers throughout the young boy's body. He could feel the pressures of his mind reeling back to himself and his crush as they spent half of their afternoon at the Cove and the beach.

Before the sun had traditionally set, with more than half of its burning display still being above the water, the two had been at the beach part of the island on the dock, first. While there watching the warm phyro globe slowly sink in its illusionary decent into the sea, the two found themselves engaged in conversation about the raft that they, with the addition of Riku, put together themselves. In an irrelevant outburst, Kairi declared that she and Sora should take their newly crafted raft and sail away from the island—just the two of them. Sora also remembered the vivacious look on Kairi's face as she talked about her finally being ready to explore beyond their island. If not for her previous outburst, Sora would have thought that she gained the confidence to finally leave the island from the words that Riku spoke to the both of them earlier, but was directed more than half towards Kairi.

The older teen persuaded his friends that their time spent on the island had gotten boring and repetitive, and that they should use the raft to not only travel to another place away from their island, but to a whole other world---a whole other dimension. Riku also added that it was Kairi that gave him that fearless traveling inspiration.

The subject did sound intriguing as well as convincing, but it also didn't add up. Wordlessly, Sora thought back to when he and Riku were a few years younger. Encouraged by Riku, as usual, Sora became influenced to go out and explore new worlds and see rare sights with his best friend. It was then that Riku came up with the idea to sail away from the island some day.

But Sora pushed that aside, as the memory of he and Kairi being at the Cove then came into his mind. He grimaced at the aching of his heart as its sorrow and confusion increased from the pain Kairi shot at him, forcing him to his knees.

Kneeling in the dirt with his remorseful head bowed, the young boy gave no hesitation to set free the sobs and freshly warm tears that tugged at the core of his very being, begging to be released.

Feeling the acidic urge to curse, Sora met a building contrast by the fragility of his tender emotions becoming a burden from the bittersweet anguish he felt, which caused his speech to be hindered.

He became too overwhelmed to form any words. He felt so confused.

At that moment, a mild sea gale rolled itself upon the island, and blew through a hole in the cave. An eerie sound was produced as the wind crept inside the alternate aperture, and its unique echo bounced off each side of the walls.

As his depression bitterly continued to consume him, Sora nonchalantly looked up to the hole in the cave of where the sound came from. A large rock was lodged in-between the hole, which made a threatening sound when the wind blew through it.

In the back of his mind, memories of himself and Riku when they were younger passed by. He had made Riku come into this very cave, thinking the sound coming from it was a monster. Yet, as the older boy pointed out, the sound wasn't a monster, but just the wind circulating through the cave through its crevices.

'Riku…'

Thoughts of the older teen seemed to hardly ever leave him, and addressing the platinum blonde in his tortured mind triggered the recent image of Kairi in Riku's arms.

Sora flinched. Seeing Kairi in Riku's arms so protectively like that…right after he confessed his feelings for her…

In his mind, a brief image of Kairi laughing jubilantly while she and Riku being arm in arm tauntingly displayed itself, which in turn, only became more oxygen for the fire of Sora's anger to feed on and spread.

As he felt scorching emotions stir up inside him, Sora, in blind anger, punched the wall.

Once looking up at where his fist impacted, he could feel that familiar nipping sting at the back of his eyes. Instinctively, he shut them, forcing his tears to be exposed to the musty air around him and roll down his face. Upon reopening them, his lamenting ice blue lapis lazulis recognized one of the murals on the wall that he and Kairi had created being right in front of him.

He had etched a profile of her, and she had done the same for him. They had both done those pictures within the same year when Kairi first arrived to Destiny Islands.

With the flow of past pleasant memories between the two of them coursing through the battered veins of his emotionally severed heart, a finger went out to gently touch his picture of Kairi.

With a new form of warm tears falling from Sora's eyes, his lips curved into a small smile as the way he felt years ago came back to him, warming his insides for just that one precious second.

Then his eyes trailed directly beneath the picture where there was an image that he had added to it recently.

Near the picture that Kairi had etched of his profile, Sora had added the image of the star-shaped Paopu fruit and had it presented as if he were giving the destiny-intertwining fruit to her to share with.

"Kairi…." he mouthed, soon feeling hurt and confusion take over his already preserved feelings for the girl.

Even though she did tear his heart to pieces—not once, but twice in the same day--- he still cared for her, but…

Without thinking, Sora snatched up the same utensil he used before to etch the picture of the Paopu fruit, a jagged rock, and placed its pointed edge above the picture, preparing to scratch it out.

"Sora!"

Unexpectedly hearing his name and having it said with such a strong emotion, Sora jumped, dropping the rock out his hands and falling over onto his backside.

Stopping himself from automatically recomposing himself, Sora didn't bother addressing Riku's presence. Instead, he turned his face away from the older teen, and kept his head hung low.

Seeing his friend in such anguish struck a deep chord within Riku, making him feel solely responsible and guilty for Sora's behavior. He knew that he was upset with him, and felt that Sora would probably never trust him the same again, but Sora usually came around after a while to forgive and forget.

While keeping the catching of his anxious breath to himself so Sora couldn't hear, Riku tried to recompose himself into his normally cool attitude when he was around Sora. Attempting a suave trademark smile, Riku dared to step closer to his downtrodden friend. "Here you are. I figured that I might find you in here."

Already starting to become mildly swayed by Riku's persuasive tone of voice, Sora had to forcefully remind himself that this was the same person who took the one girl he cared for heart away. Sora frowned, amongst the mahogany barricade his drooped bangs formed while he had his head hung, so his face couldn't be seen.

It had barely even been ten minutes when he confessed to Kairi how he felt about her, then the next thing he knew, he had caught her nice and snug in Riku's protective embrace.

Now, Sora knew that something had to have happened for Kairi to react the way she did.

Maybe he read the situation the wrong way?

He knew that she wasn't a fast girl, flirtatious and brazen, yes, but she still had a conscience.

Deep down in the unfathomed portions of his heart, Sora knew that he still trusted Kairi and still cared for her greatly, but, what was Riku's story?

Slightly turning his face towards the older teen but not looking at him, Sora quickly rubbed his tear streaked face with the back of his arm and finally relocated his voice.

"Riku…" Sora began in a low and placid tone. Being addressed to, Riku took a step closer to Sora, but before he could respond with a verbal reply, the younger cut him off. "Tell me, what did Kairi say to you…?"

Riku blinked at the sudden sound of Kairi's name, even though, he expected to it come up sooner or later. Setting aside his pride for the moment, Riku took casual steps closer to Sora, as he spoke. "…She just told me that she needed help."

"Help?" Sora repeated, losing his anger in the mentioning of Kairi being in need, and turned a little more towards the sound of Riku's voice, but still didn't give his full attention to him.

"Yeah…" Riku stated, taking one more step towards Sora then, stopping abruptly.

Curious to his friend's sudden pause, Sora glanced out of the corner of his eye and pinpointed Riku standing less than 2 feet away from him. But this time, Sora turned completely around to look up at Riku. He beheld his friend with curious eyes as the older teen stood perfectly still with his eyes adverted away from Sora.

Choosing not to hold anything back from Sora, Riku placidly told him the fact of the matter.

"She said that she needed comfort because…when you told her…that you loved her…she panicked, and confronted me for help." He scoffed. "Probably because I'm older."

"Oh…" Sora replied, unknown to himself.

Seeing his best friend's mood drop for the second time that day, Riku begun to feel responsible. Not wanting to see Sora in such low spirits again, he put himself aside and walked over to him.

Sensing his friend right in front of him, Sora looked up, to meet eyes with Riku, but found the aquamarine gems he sought to be elsewhere.

As soon as he came close to Sora, Riku's eyes had aimlessly drifted over to the random murals on the cave walls, and came to a stop when the moment his eyes met with the picture that Sora had previously been tampering with.

"..A Paopu fruit…" Riku muttered under his breath. Feeling a ripple of envy charge through him, Riku's mind became flooded with thoughts. But Sora's picture also proved as a reminder for the piece of mildly ripened Paopu fruit that he had in his pocket.

Catching a secret of his exposed, Sora, scrambled to his feet and ran in front of it, blocking Riku's envious stare.

With his line of vision being cut short, Riku's eyes darted to Sora, pinning him in place.

Misreading the jealousy in Riku's eyes as a smug expression, Sora quickly took him by the shoulders, and looked him sincerely in the eyes. Riku was struck speechless by this move and was a bit confused, but kept his eyes on Sora.

"Please…" Sora began, bowing his head, "Please don't tell Kairi…"

A rapid array of multiple thoughts flashed through Riku's mind as he beheld Sora in his most genuine honesty. Riku's eyes narrowed at the vast level of trust he saw deep within Sora's eyes. He knew t had forgiven him, even though he did nothing wrong, and Riku was fine by that. He knew that with him being a bid brother figure was as close as he was going to get to the hidden and endearing depths of Sora's heart, and as long as he was close to him, Riku was more than satisfied.

Riku had accepted the fact that Sora had his heart practically set on Kairi, and shared a few mixed feelings concerning her, himself. But the fleeting emotions he felt paled in comparison to the quixotic and sureness of emotion that was clasped eagerly and tightly by the ever-jubilant Sora's heart.

Feeling a flow of warmth coarse throughout his body, Riku's lips spread to a casual smile. If it was one thing that the older boy could name that he admired from Sora was his strong and tenacious heart.

But, the actions of Kairi from the past still bothered him from time to time. First, things started out with himself and Sora always being together, hanging out and going on adventures whenever they saw fit. Then once Kairi came, the time and attention that Sora spent with his best friend began to become less and less…and soon, most of Sora's vocabulary was littered with Kairi's name.

Now, Riku didn't hate Kairi, but he did get jealous of her attachment to Sora.

But with him being older, he cursed himself for not being more perceptive.

"Riku?"

"No, I won't tell her. So don't worry." He answered Sora as he tussled in his hair. "My lips are sealed!"

"Ahh cut it out!" Sora retaliated, running a brisk hand through his assorted spiky locks.

With an alluring, yet well-needed laugh, Riku smiled to Sora, who was still sorting out his hair.

Sora grumbled. "Riku!"

"What!"

"So! Here's where you two have been!"

At the sound of the aggravated female voice, both boys turned their heads towards the entrance to the cave and were both shocked to see Kairi standing there with her hands firmly placed on her hips.

Tapping her foot, she narrowed her indigo eyes at the two of them, glaring first at Riku, then Sora.

The boys watched as the girl's features twisted into a cute little frown and leaned forward to scold them.

"Do you two have any idea what time it is?"

Upon receiving unintelligent murmurs, Kairi rolled her eyes and shot a glare to Riku. "And you!" she declared with a playfully raised voice, "You told me that you'd come back!"

Catching Riku between a rock and a hard place, he calmly kept his cool, and suavely replied, "I told you I was coming back, Kairi, and I was. But now that you're here, there's no reason for me to come back to you..."

With a 'hmph', her pink lips curled into a half frown and she haughtily tossed her hair back "Nice one, smarty-pants."

With a small giggle, K turned attention away from Riku for a brief moment to glance to Sora.

Sora was caught off guard at first, and didn't know how to react, but everything was made up, as well as made clear, as Kairi smiled warmly at him and winked at him.

Taking the gesture as an apology, Sora returned the same, as if to say that he was sorry too.

The two shared a brief moment of staring into the other's eyes, and upon meeting eyes with her, Sora instantly remembered the picture of the Paopu fruit that he etched on the wall, and nervously inched behind Riku to try and cover it up.

Kairi raised an eyebrow, and giggled. "Sora what are you…"

"Nothing!"

Glancing over at Sora as he blushed, Riku sighed and shook his head, before returning his eyes to Kairi. "Come on, you two. We've been out here long enough. Let's get some sleep."

Agreeing with him, the two younger teens nodded. Before she left, Kairi walked over to Riku and mouth a "thank you" to him. Not replying with words, Riku simply nodded to her with an unreadable expression. While standing close to him, she curiously peered over his shoulder to what Sora was supposedly hiding, and of course, Sora quickly covered the picture from her line of vision in a sloppy casual attempt.

After a while, she shrugged it off, and left out of the cave with her hands leisurely folded behind her back.

As soon as she was gone, Sora let out a whoosh of air, then looked to Riku.

The platinum blonde said nothing as he stared off into space in the direction of where Kairi left. He seemed to be in deep deliberation about something, but Sora had no clue to what it was. Laying a hand on his friend's shoulder, Sora called out to him. Riku instantly responded with a raised eyebrow as he met eyes with Sora. Astonished by the perplexing complexity of Riku's viridian eyes, Sora couldn't help but smile to his friend for helping him out. "Riku…thanks…"

Returning his smile with one of his own, Riku nodded. "You're welcome."

"Well, get some sleep now." Sora said, already getting a head start on leaving. Once out of the Secret Place, the first thing that met with Sora's eyes was the dark and clouded sky. His eyes narrowed at the large clouds closest to the island where he stood.

They looked a lot like storm clouds to him. He inwardly sighed. "Great…a storm….I hope it passes." Already at the mentioning of a storm, Sora looked around from where he stood to make sure that Kairi was nowhere in sight. 'I hope she made it home okay.' He prayed in his mind.

"Sora!"

Hearing his name, the young teen turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"

Before he had the chance to say another word, Riku emerged from the Secret Place and held out two fists.

With his eyes fleeting between the two, Sora acknowledged that Riku's fist looked like they had something in them, or at least one of them did. Unsure is he were to pick one or not, he curiously glanced up to a confident looking Riku.

With a hint of a smirk on his lips, he said to Sora: "Pick one."

On command, Sora looked between both fists, and randomly picked one. "Um…I choose…the one on the right."

"This one?", Riku asked, dropped his other arm at his side and holding up the one Sora picked.

By the unique sound of allusion in Riku's voice, Sora quickly changed his mind. "Uh…actually, I choose the one on the left!"

"The one on the left, right?" Riku asked with a smug smile on his face.

"Yeah!"

Saying nothing, but moving quickly, Riku took hold of Sora's hand and placed his left fist in it. With his shimmering aquamarine eyes on Sora, Riku opened his hand and dropped a soft object into his hand, then curled his fingers around it.. "Good choice." He stated with a smirk as he began walking away.

Sora watched him go for a second, then looked into his hand to find out what Riku gave him. And as soon as he recognized what it was, his eyes widened and he called to Riku while holding a piece of it tightly in his fist. "Riku!"

"Keep it!" the blonde shouted back. Then he added for his ears only, "So we'll be a part of each other's lives…no matter what…" Smiling to himself, he pulled out of his pocket a piece of his own of the fruit.

The legend of the Paopu fruit stated that if any two people shared it, their destinies would be intertwined…forever. And for best friends, there was no harm in being a part of each other's live for all eternity, was there?

….Riku also hoped that Sora didn't eat in until after a few days or so, because that particular piece of Paopu fruit hadn't ripened completely yet!

Oh well. If he did eat it, he'd be in for a sick surprise, but at least the effect would still remain the same.

-

A/N- --

-Mel


End file.
